


More Than What Meets the Eye

by Spaceunicorn1300



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers Family, Avengers Movie Night, Bucky and Natasha are good friends, Clint and Natasha are good friends, Crying, F/M, Finding Family, Fluff, I’ve never seen them so I’ll try and write it the best I can, Lots of Whump, Needles, Peter Parker Is Sweet, Peter Parker is a Good Bro, Peter Parker is a bean, Peter Parker is a geek, Peter Parker is afraid of needles and you cannot convince me otherwise, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Steve Rogers, Siblings, StarWars movies, fear of needles, first fic, will add tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-21 11:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20692928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spaceunicorn1300/pseuds/Spaceunicorn1300
Summary: Scarlett’s whole life has revolves around the Red Room and her training, but when she meets the Avengers and learns she has more in common with them than she thought, she finds that she is more than the Assassin the Russians made her.





	1. Moving Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is my first fic so I am still figuring out everything and such. I really like making it and I hope you like reading it.  
Enjoy!

It was the middle of the night and everyone was asleep, except for Scarlett. She used to wonder what things were like after everyone had gone to bed, imagining the twinkling stars making little dots on the floor and the moon like a spot light. As she grew up, she came to hate the darkness. It was there when she woke up from a nightmare and was so scared that she could only crawl under her blankets and wait for it to pass.

It was there when she closed her eyes after a lost fight, bruised and beaten, she would take a deep breath in and notice how it hurt. And it was there when she disobeyed, long ago when she didn’t want to kill, she would sit on her bed in the large bedroom all of the girls shared and the light would slowly leave the large windows too big for anyone to reach as she let little tears fall about her missed dinner that wouldn’t be enough anyway, allowing herself to show weakness where no one else was able to see. 

She could do the same now, everyone was asleep and they wouldn’t notice her sweaty, shaky hands, or the little lump that seemed to grow in her throat, or the tears pricking in her eyes. Scarlett was scared, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, her first mission was so unknown it was like the darkness she feared. So she distracted herself by focusing on the cold in her bare feet as she stood on the concrete floor and packed her black duffle bag.

She only had a few belongings and they were all very close to her, so she made sure to put them all away carefully. There was a book on Russian that she had read back to front more times than she could possibly count, there was her only set of pajamas, a simple deep red tank top and black shorts, and the brand new stealth suit that she was given. 

All of these items were the only things that she was allowed to have, although they weren’t the only things that she owned. After looking both ways carefully she reached under her shirt and pulled out a necklace.

It was her most prized possession and she kept it carefully hidden, only taking it out every once and a while to admire. It was a beautiful bright red circular jewel that would glow if it caught the light. It was on a delicate silver chain that was so thin you could barely tell it was there. 

Scarlett had no idea where it had come from, only that she could never let anyone see it or the soldiers would take it and she would be punished horribly. After tucking the necklace away carefully and zipping up the duffel bag, she crept over to the far corner of the room to do her hair. 

The Red Room let them grow there hair out long, that way they would have to bother cutting it and so they provided one cracked and dirty mirror with a box full of simple wooden brushes and black hair ties so everyone could do two simple braids. 

Normally there was a long line of girls talking quietly as they waited for their turn. Now she could get ready right away and was only done in a couple of minutes. Afterward she rubbed her hands on her pants and shivered a little in the cold. She wished that she had time to stall, to look around one last time, to soothe her nerves a little, but she would probably be in some kind of horrible trouble if she was late. 

So instead she took one last deep breath and walked smoothly across the room, picked up the bag without slowing even a little and made to the only door. It was big and thick, made from some kind of heavy metal, and Scarlett knew for a fact that it was kept heavily guarded. She raised her hand, and after a moment's hesitation that she knew would be frowned upon if people could see, she knocked.

It made a deep hollow sound, and her knuckles ached a little afterward. Only a few seconds later the door swung open and three men stood in front of her. She knew one of them, Agent Brock. He was her manager and her teacher, the one who had gotten her this assignment. 

The other two were just some random guards who happened to be on duty. They would be escorting Scarlett and Brock to their debriefing room. She let her face became a mask, pushing all of her emotions deep down where nobody would ever see them, just like she had been taught.

Everyone fell into one smooth line and started walking down the dark haunting hall. First was one guard, then Agent Brock, then Scarlett, then the last soldier. Here the lights had a yellowish tint to them which made everything seem more menacing. It was all the same concrete as the room where all the girls slept, except here was spotless.

During the daytime it was bustling with men and women, each one moving with a purpose, some sort of goal that they needed to complete. Now that it was night the place was empty besides the occasional man on patrol and Scarlett’s little party. 

The entire time Scarlett felt like she was walking to her doom, her death, and when they reached the door she could feel her heart beating loud and fast in her chest. The room was bare besides a table and two chairs. Only Brock and Scarlett walked in, the guards staying on the outside making sure that they were not desturbed during the meeting and ready to burst in at a moments notice. 

Scarlett let her bag fall noiselessly to the floor and sat down with her back rigid eyes staring straight ahead. Brock paced in front of her for a little while, arms behind his back, looking down at his shoes. Finally he stopped and slid a manilla envelope across the table. 

Scarlett was itching to open it just to get it over with, but she stared straight ahead, eyes slowly following the back and forth motion that Agent Brock was making. After a little while of silence Brock gave the tiniest nod of his head and Scarlett knew that it was safe to move. She reached forward and scooped up the folder bringing it closer and slowly flipping it open. 

She had been trained for years to not only take in as much information to memorize as possible, but to also connect the pieces. She could hear the old gravelly voice of her instructor floating through her head. He was and ancient man who would give the class fake mission folders to analyze. 

While she worked he would lean over her shoulder and say,  
“Don’t forget to keep your mind open as well as your eyes. A clue might seem like one thing when you just look at it, but when you really think, then you might find something else entirely.” 

She never knew his name, all teachers were called Sir or Ma’am. Scarlett liked him because he was the only one who spoke to her in English. It was her first language, but once she was old enough to start her training they would punish anyone who didn’t communicate in Russian.

Many of the girls had been able to speak English before, but they had lost the language after they weren’t allowed to speak it anymore. As far as Scarlett knew she was the only one who kept practicing so she could never forget.

One day the teacher disappeared without a trace and was replaced with a stern woman who would hit Scarlett if she got something wrong and lock her in a closet if she thought Scarlett talked too much. Soon she stopped speaking unless she absolutely had to. 

This file was pretty bare compared to some of the practice ones she used. There was a picture that showed a group of people in the middle of a fight, Scarlett wondered if they were winning, below that was a small square of text that described the mission objective.

Before she even had the time to read it though Brock started talking.  
“These people are an organization that go against Russia and therefore against us. They have become a problem, but just taking them out by force would be unwise.”  
Scarlett didn’t have a clue who he was talking about, but if they went against the Red Room, then they were against her, and they needed to be dealt with. 

“This is just a beginners mission, something easy.” He stopped until he was right across from her, he leaned forward putting his hands down flat on the table, getting his head close to hers. 

It took everything in her not to lean back, that would just cause more pain that she didn’t need right before her first assignment.

“We will give you the necessary equipment to blend in with their environment and gather information, important information, then bring it back. What you gather will help us bring them down.” At the last bit his voice turned even deeper and more grave than before and his eyes sharpened.

Scarlett didn’t know the consequences for failing something like this, but she didn’t ever want to find out. She gave a slow deliberate nod face blank of all the nerves and fear that she felt weighing in her chest.

He straightened out and smoothed down his uniform until it was perfect again. Then he went to the door and turned the handle walking out and closing it behind him.

As soon as it was shut, Scarlett felt a burning pain that began at the base of her neck. She put a hand to it, but it only got stronger. Less than a minute later she felt her vision darkening and not long after that she was out cold.


	2. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scarlett starts her mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, got a new chapter out. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.   
Hope you enjoy:)

As Scarlett woke up she started assessing her situation. There was no light behind her eyelids, so she wasn’t in a bright place. Her arms and legs were tied to whatever she was sitting on and she could hear a slight hum in the air. Scarlett wracked her brain to think of where she could be when it clicked into place, she was in a vehicle.

Just as she came to that realization the van took a turn and she swayed with it. Scarlett forced herself to stay limp and muscles relaxed until the fogginess in her brain had cleared away.

By the time that she could count to ten in Russian without stumbling over each number, they braked suddenly. She gritted her teeth as the seatbelt dug painfully into her shoulder and she let herself fall forward, still feigning unconsciousness. 

The door slid open quickly and she could feel rough hands grip her arms tightly. The seat belt was clicked open and she was dragged out into the world. The first thing that she felt was the cold breeze hitting her face. It wasn’t freezing like back home, a nice cool one that would be just perfect on a warm night. Unfortunately it was too cold to be enjoyable.

She dared to crack her eyes open just a little to look at the sky. It was worth it, everything seemed covered in the bright twinkling lights that Scarlett had come to admire so much. It was hard to believe that the only difference between these and the ones back in Russia was that she had a bigger view. 

Scarlett snapped her eyes shut again when the men dragging her stopped and opened a door that sounded heavy. Instead of the rough gravelly scrape of her shoes on the pavement it changes to a slick whisper and the ground turned smoother.

There was no more breeze, but the already cold temperature seemed to drop another few degrees She knew that she must have been in her new home, the Red Room always kept their rooms cold because they thought warmth would make the girls tired and lazy. They were probably right, but it was hard to stay perfectly still and at attention when she was so focused on trying not to shiver. 

The little group finally stopped and Scarlett felt herself being dropped to the floor. Her shoulders fell against the ground hard, and a sickening pop rang through the echoing room, but she kept completely still until the door slammed shut. Scarlett picked herself up and looked around. Everything was just basic and bare concrete. In the corner there was a ratty, thin old blanket for her to use as a bed, and a place to do her hair on the other side of the room.

She trudged over to the sad excuse of a mattress and curled up in a little ball, trying to keep as much body heat as she could. It took a little while, but eventually she fell into her usual uneasy sleep in complete darkness, without even the stars for light.

That morning a blaring alarm jolted her awake. She sat up, eyes wide, heart pounding, and breathing heavy as if she had just gone on a long jog. Once Scarlett realized that she wasn’t in immediate danger she rubbed a hand over her face and stood up. 

Her shoulder ached and when she tugged the corner of her shirt out of the way she saw that it was deeply bruised and swollen. Whenever she tried to move it at all a spike of pain shot up her arm and made her gasp and tears flooded her eyes. 

Scarlett turned her head to the door try and distract herself, there was something different about it. She must have still been sleeping off whatever drugs that they gave her, because sitting in front of the thick smooth metal were three things She hadn’t noticed the night before.

One was a neatly folded outfit. It looked fresh and clean as opposed to what she was wearing now. It was also different from the uniform that she always wore and Scarlett was more than happy for a change. She walked over and picked it up and tossing her old tank top and athletic shorts into the corner minding her bad arm. 

The second item was a bowl of porridge. Her stomach rumbled at the food, she was so hungry. There was no eating utensils and no steam rising from the top, but Scarlett dashed over to her breakfast and shoved it into her mouth with her hand. Two seconds later it had all been licked clean and Scarlett sat trying to convince herself that she was satisfied while she looked at the next thing. 

It was a simple black backpack and when she unzipped it there was a lunchbox of the same color tucked away inside. She had never gotten any information about a bag besides the one she had packed for this mission and she hadn’t seen that one since before she had left, after searching through all the pockets and compartments Scarlett found there was nothing else in it.

She took a breath and got up to do her hair in its usual braids to help clear her head. When she got a chance to see herself, she realized that it had been a long time since she had noticed how she looked. 

Scarlett was so pale from staying inside most of her life that she could practically see her veins. There was dark purple under eyes that seemed a little more sunken in then they should be. Her face was thin, all sharp angles and hollowed out cheeks.

She was so busy examining every detail that she barely noticed the sound of footsteps coming toward her room and jumped when the door swung open. A man stood there and it took a second for Scarlett to realize he was one of the guards that came with her. 

He was dressed in a buttoned shirt and dress pants with a goofy looking tie hanging around his neck. He had combed his hair over to the side and it looked as if he were wearing a fake mustache. The whole thing would have been awfully funny if Scarlett wasn’t so confused as to why he was wearing it.

“Hurry up, you don’t want us to be late.” The way that his eyes narrowed told Scarlett this was a threat and that he would very well punish her if they were. So she scurried over to the backpack, picked it up, and followed him out the door and to the van she was dragged from the night before. 

He got into the front seat leaving her to scramble to the back, barely giving her time to get settled in before he started speeding off to some unknown destination. Scarlett had lost track of time and it felt like only a few minutes until the door was sliding open and the guard grabbed her arm and yanked her out onto the sidewalk. 

Once she gained her footing, Scarlett was blinded by the bright sunny day and she had to squint as she followed the man who had started walking briskly.

When her eyes had adjusted to the light she saw a big one-story brick building looming in front of them. There was an old cracked parking lot in front of it with little tufts of grass growing through the pavement there were cars sitting out and older kids were standing around talking and laughing. 

Scarlett stuck a little closer to the guard and turned her head down trying to seem invisible to these strangers. They made their way inside the building where it was all tile floors and a big glass case full of trophies. He took Scarlett up to the office where a lady sat at a desk typing away at the computer. She looked up when they got closer and smiled at the guard. 

“Hello, how can I help you?” He grinned, something that Scarlett had never seen him do before, and said, “ Hello, my name is Mr. Jonson and it’s my daughter Scarlett’s first day here, is there anything I need to sign?”

The lady shook her head and stood up. “No, no of course not, you can just send her right in. Why don’t y’all wait right here while I get her schedule and locker number printed off.”

She had a southern accent and a big toothy smile she liked to wear. The secretary scurried off and as soon as the door had shut behind her the guard turned back to Scarlett, all of the kindness had left from his eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two things, both of which he handed to her. 

One was a thin circular disk that was smaller than Scarlett’s palm. The other was a regular old flash drive that was about as long as her pointer finger. 

“The disk is a special invention we just perfected. Attach it to any computer and it will connect you to the Avengers mainframe directly.” 

Then he pointed to the flash drive. “Once you get into their files download all of them onto this. Then your mission is complete and we have the data we need. You can do it right on one of the computers at this school.”

He leaned forward and grabbed her shoulder. Scarlett drew in a breath as he applied pressure to her injury. “ If you mess this up, all of our hard work will come undone.” He came even closer “So don’t.”

The sound of the door sent him flying back again. “Alright honey, I’ve got everything ya need right here. Today you’ll get a tour from a student that I’ve picked to be your guide. Tomorrow you’ll start school like everyone else. Got all that?”

Scarlett looked to the guard who gave a subtle head nod. “Yes, thank you.” “Aww it’s nothing honey, now follow me and I’ll introduce you to the student giving you the tour.”

As Scarlett walked out she made a big show of waving goodbye and looking sad to leave. On the other side of the door was a little hallway with a bench pressed against the wall. A boy sat there fiddling with his hands.

He had curly brown hair and big brown eyes that looked bright and happy and not at all like Scarlett’s. When he saw them he stood and put his fidgety fingers behind his back.

“Honey this is the student who will be giving you a tour of the school today.” The boy came forward and held out his hand for Scarlett to shake. “Hi, my name is Peter Parker, it’s nice to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are defiantly starting to get more interesting. Make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think.   
Thanks:)


	3. The First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to put this one up. I’ve been super busy and haven’t really had time to update at all. Hope you like this new chapter, please make sure to leave a commment and let me know what you think!

Scarlett spent the first half of her day following Peter around the school while he told her where each classroom was and what was taught there. The halls were mostly empty during class times and Scarlett was able to examine the different posters and papers that were tacked to the wall. While she was doing just that she noticed Peter watching her intently, She tried to ignore him, but after a while she couldn’t take it anymore. The next time she felt his brown eyes burning the back of her head, she stared right back. 

Peter noticed immediately and his cheeks flushed a little as he ran his hand up and down the back of his neck. “Sorry, I know that was kind of creepy. You just look crazy familiar. Have we met before?” 

A little bubble of panic rose in her chest and made her stomach twist in a horrible knot. Had he really seen her somewhere? This was her first mission, so it couldn’t connect her to the Red Room or the horrible things she did there. Either way if the people back in Russia thought that he might know of her connection with them. They would exterminate him and Scarlett would be dead herself.

She shook her head so fast that the world around her blurred. Peter held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Ok, ok, I was just wondering. Maybe you just look like some celebrity I’ve seen.”

Scarlett calmed down a little after that and Peter continues on with the tour. When the lunch bell rang he followed Scarlett to her locker so she could get her lunch box. She fished it out of her backpack and held it close to her chest. “Is black your favorite color?” He asked.

Scarlett didn’t have time for something as silly and frivolous as a favorite color, so she just didn’t have one. There was no way to explain that to Peter without getting a very odd look and more questions. Instead she didn’t say anything and shrugged. Peter didn’t press and led her to the cafeteria, which was down a hallway and to the right “I have to wait in this line. You can go pick a table if you want.” 

Scarlet glanced back at the busy crowded lunch tables. There were teenagers milling around, some with lunch trays, some without, but all of them were shouting and laughing and pushing and shoving. Facing that by herself seemed like a mission all on its own. She inched closer to Peter and he chuckled wrapping an arm around her. “Alright, you can stick with me.”

He must of caught on that Scarlett didn’t like to talk, because he didn’t ask her any questions and he rambled so fast that there was no room for her to reply. They went on like that until they got to the front of the line and Peter had to get his lunch. Scarlett was shocked.

There were big pans filled with steaming good looking food, Scarlett hadn’t known there was so much variety. She always had cold oatmeal, it wasn’t enough, but it kept her alive. Here there were so many things, all of which she couldn’t name, everything making her mouth water. The grip on her little lunch bag loosened before she tightened her hands again. 

Peter paid and led her over to a more secluded table in the corner of the cafeteria. Two kids were already sitting there with their own trays of food. There was one boy and one girl. The boy seemed to have a permanent smile plastered on his face and was trying to have a conversation with the girl, it wasn’t going well. He was on the bigger side with darker hair than Peter, it was straighter than his too. 

Scarlett couldn’t tell much about the girl because her face was hidden behind a book. All she would see was her dark super curly hair that poked out around the edges of her thick novel. Peter sat down immediately and any worry that might have been on his mind seemed lifted. Scarlett hesitated to take a seat , but Peter patted the spot next to him and so she did. “Hey guys.”

The boy looked up. “Hey Pete.” he noticed Scarlett. “Who are you?” The question wasn’t intended to be mean, but Scarlett shrunk into herself all the same. Peter bumped Scarlett’s shoulder with his and said, “This is Scarlett, she is a Freshman and it’s her first day so I’m giving her a tour.”

Ned nodded and the girl lowered her book slightly. “Is she going to be sitting here every day?” She sounded bored and uninterested. “I think so,” He turned to Scarlett for confirmation and she nodded. “Yeah, she is. That ok with you?” 

The girl put her book down and lay both arms on top of eachother. She stared at Scarlett, her eyes seemed to search deep. They stayed like that for a minute or two before the girl held out her hand. “My names MJ. It’ll be nice to have another girl around here.” “Why do you care? you’re always late to lunch anyway.” Peter said. 

“Time is a male construct loser, so technically I can’t be.” MJ said rolling her eyes and shoving her nose back in her book. The two boys sat there confused for a little bit before Peter said, “Why does she say things that don’t make any sense?” “I don’t know man, my dad always says that you should never question a woman’s mind.” 

MJ lowered her book just long enough to send a glare his way then pulled it back up again. Ned sat up straighter. “I’m pretty sure there are two holes burned into the side of my head now.” Peter chuckled. “Dude if I got holes in my head every time I annoyed MJ I don’t think I would even be here.”

They both laughed and started eating. Scarlett had set her bag on the table, but she didn’t open it. She worried that if they saw what she had for lunch then they would think she was weird and wouldn’t want to talk to her anymore. It was silly to think that, and if they did it wouldn’t matter anyway, but to here it was a huge deal. She hoped she could pass through lunch undetected, but unfortunately she wasn’t that lucky. “Hey, aren’t you going to eat?” Peter asked, pointing to her lunchbox. 

Scarlett gulped and nodded, there was no way she could get out of this. She unzipped it and pulled out the small container of oatmeal, slowly unwrapping the little container and scooping some out with her hand. “Did you forget a fork?” Peter asked. 

She decided that it would be easier to just say no instead of saying she never go one in the first place. “It’s ok, they have some up in the line, I’ll go get one for you.” He stood up and walked through the crowd leaving Scarlett alone with Ned and MJ. “ So Scarlett, what do you think of the school?” There was no Peter sitting beside her to answer, she was going to have to do this herself. “Nice.” She mumbled, staring down at her cold food. 

Ned nodded slowly. They sat there in awkward silence until Peter returned with a for clutched triumphantly in his hand and an odd colored stain on his shirt. “Got it.” he said and handed it to her. “Dude what’s that?” Ned asked pointing to the colored spot. Peter looked down surprised as if he hadn’t even noticed it before. “Oh, I bumped into Flash on the way up there.”

Ned’s surprised face fell flat. “When you say ran into, how metaphorical are we being?” Peter didn’t answer slumping down in his seat and resting his head on his arms. Scarlett was glad because then he wouldn’t notice the awkward way that she held a fork, as if she had never really used one before.

When lunch was finished he said goodbye to Ned and MJ then Peter brought her to some empty classroom and gave her some worksheets to do. Scarlett was nervous because she hadn’t actually been to school before and she might would give herself away since she wouldn’t be able to do the work, but when he slid the paper in front of her she let out a silent sound of relief. Everything was super easy, she could practically do this in her sleep. Excited to prove herself she grabbed the pencil and got to work. 

In only a few minutes she had finished and looked up at Peter so he could give her more instructions. The boy stood there with his jaw hanging open for a second before he snatched up the paper and held it tightly eyes darting around the page. Scarlett curled her shoulders in and tilted her head down, thinking Peter was angry with her, thinking she had done something wrong. 

After a little while, though he looked up and she saw a brightness in his eyes. “Wow Scarlett, it’s all correct.” He dropped the paper and let out an impressed whistle. “Well, we still have a few hours since you got done so fast. How about I take you to the library, I have a book I need to pick up.” Scarlett didn’t know what a library was, but she figured that she might as well follow along. When they walked through the door it was her turn to be shocked. 

It was a big room full of books, which happened to be Scarlett’s favorite thing. She turned in a small circle taking everything she could. Peter smiled when he saw her shocked face, then he nudged her to a shelf. “Go pick out a book that you might like. I’ll be right over here talking to the librarian.” She took a careful few steps towards where he had led her to, then looked around just to make sure it wasn’t a trap. Once the coast was clear she darted forward and reached out with a shaky hand, carefully running it over the clean spines. 

After a little while she grabbed a random one and burrowed herself into a corner all curled up, ready to read. It was warm and safe in her little spot, it was so different than what she was used to and after only a few minutes her eyes began to close. She didn’t even realize that she had fallen asleep until Peter was gently shaking her awake and saying her name. “Scarlett, the bell just rang. Is your dad coming to pick you up?” 

Scarlett jolted herself up and looked around tense and alert until she realized where she was. She nodded her head and Peter smiled. “Alright well, let’s head on out.” She glanced sadly down at the book that rested on her lap, upset that she wouldn’t be able to finish it. He followed her gaze and picked it up studying the cover. “That’s a good one.” He turned back and looked at the librarian who was typing away at a computer with her glasses settled down her nose. 

“Your so new, I don’t think you’d be in the system yet.” He grabbed the book and put his hand on a shelf beside Scarlett’s head, pulling himself up. “I’ll just check it out for you.” She followed him across the room over to the desk near the door. He put it down on the counter waiting a few minutes for the lady sitting there to finish typing. She seemed to be trying to ignore them, not even looking up and letting the obnoxious clacking of her keys fill the silence. Finally Peter had enough and rapped one hand on the wood and put the other on Scarlett’s back when she jumped at the noise. 

The librarian stopped and slowly looked up over her glasses at them. “Hi, I’d like to check out this library book.” She grunted and pushed a little keypad toward him. Peter typed in some numbers, each one making a little beep, then slid the pad back over. The book disappeared for a little bit while the librarian checked it out then she unceremoniously dumped it back. Peter graciously scooped it up saying a thanks through his best smile.

Scarlett watched the whole exchange curiously and slowly pulled the book from Peter’s grasp and clutched it with both arms, hugging it close to her chest. “We should get you to the front before you dad gets too worried.” He guided her up past the office and out the doors where the sun beat down on them and a light wind quietly rustled the leaves of any nearby trees.

There weren’t very many cars left out in the parking lot, and it wasn’t at all hard for Scarlett to spot the gleaming white van parked out by the curb with the guard leaning casually against the hood. Scarlett turned her head down and made a beeline for the back hoping she could leave without the exchange of words, or her new friend having to meet one of the people who hurt her. Unfortunately she couldn’t be that lucky.

“You must be Scarlett’s father, I’m Peter Parker.” He put on a bright smile and held out his hand. The agent didn’t hesitate to return the gesture with a firm grip. “Yes I am, Are you a new friend of hers.” Peter chuckled and looked down at Scarlett. “You could say that. Although I’ve mostly been helping her get settled in today. Tomorrow is when she officially starts her classes.” 

The Agent nodded and clapped one of his hands on Scarlett's shoulder. She wasn’t expecting the sudden contact and flinched under his touch, hard. She had hoped Peter wasn’t paying any attention to her and didn’t notice the obvious, but one look at his face told her he wasn’t nearly as stupid or oblivious as she could have hoped. His eyes widen slightly and darted between Scarlett and her Agent before he schooled his face into an emotion that she couldn’t read.

“Alright, well it was nice to meet you Scarlett, we won’t have any classes together, but I have lunch when you have your free period. I can meet you at the library.” Scarlett was sad that she wouldn’t be able to see him more, but she would take what she could get “Well it was nice to see you.” The soldier said, his grip on Scarlett tightening as he prepared to steer her towards the van and away from Peter. Scarlett gave a tiny wave with just her finger. Peter returned with his own, his whole hand twisting back and forth happily before he turned to the side and started walking down the sidewalk. 

Scarlett was roughly shoved into the van and the door slid shut with the only light being the one from the roof of the vehicle. The last Scarlett saw of Peter was watching him get into a nice black car, mouth opening and closing around a smile as he talked to whoever was driving. Instead of being scared or angry though she crawled over to her backpack and pulled out her book then settled back in a little corner and opened it to the page that she was at, losing herself in the story and letting her muscles relax just the smallest bit. 

She was so busy reading that she didn’t notice the van had stopped and the doors had opened until the Agent ripped it out of her hands. “Hey!” She yelled, then gasped throwing her hands over her mouth. She talked back, yelled at, a guard, someone in charge of her. There was no telling what kind of punishment that she might receive. It didn’t take her long to find out as the guard gave a cruel grin and his hand flew towards her. 

Scarlett felt a slash of pain and squeezed her eyes shut tight not making a sound. She looked down and felt nausea bubble up. Going down her forearm was a long, deep, jagged gash. It must have been some knife that he kept hidden in his pocket. Something that was probably put there to protect her from some run of the mill mugger or kidnapper that prowled the streets was now used to harm her. Scarlett could practically laugh from the irony, but she was too mesmerized by the injury.

The Agent grabbed her wrist and pulled it flat admiring his work before giving a satisfied nod and leading her out of the van and to her concrete covered room. He tossed her inside and shut the door, leaving her alone without her book to read. Scarlett backed herself into a corner and curled up, holding her arm protectively close to her chest. She sat like that, completely silent besides the occasional hiss of pain as she tried to apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding, until she slowly fell asleep.

That night she was woken up by foriegn fingers yanking her eyelids open and shining a bright light in it. She whined and tried to jerk away, but a hand grabbed the back of her head and held her still. Soon she was released and she peeled her eyes open, taking in the people around her. 

There was a woman in a white coat kneeling in front of her with a tight grip on her arm examining it with mild curiosity. She turned it this way and that, pressing on the gash at times making Scarlett bite back a yelp. “The wound has been open for too long, it’s going to get infected.” She said, not to Scarlett, but the guards behind her. 

“Well then patch it up, make it less noticeable, I don’t care! She needs to carry out her mission, as long as she can do that.” the doctor nodded slowly. Scarlett was trembling. Doctors and other assorted medical personnel at the Red Room were never nice people and never seemed to do anything but carry their nauseating antiseptic smell around and cause Scarlett constant pain. 

The next hour was excruciating as the woman sutured the wound painfully and bandaged it without a word. By the time it is all over hot tears are leaking down Scarlett’s face and her lip was bleeding from biting it so hard. The bandage was itchy and too tight all wrapped from her wrist to just below her elbow. The woman and guards left the room again, and Scarlett was all alone in the dark. 

She curled up on her blanket around her burning, throbbing arm. Once she was alone she let out a watery sob, shoulders shuddering as she tried to conceal her cries with her good hand. She stayed like that until she finally drifted off a while later. That night she dreamt of going to school with Peter and coming home to a happy family and lots of hot food on the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped you liked this last chapter! I don’t really know when I can update again, ( Hopefully in the next few days.) but I can promise it won’t be as long as last time. 
> 
> Also please check out many_fandoms07 on wattpad. She writes good Marvel fan fiction and I think she also writes stuff for another fandom. I really love reading her stuff , make sure to check that out! 
> 
> Hope you like the story so far. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.


	4. Home at Last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg this took me so long to write! I kind of just fell into a writer block and didn’t really know how to get out, also life got super crazy busy, but I am back with another chapter and hopefully the next will get out much faster. Hope you enjoy!

Peter sat in the passenger seat of Tony’s car and watched as the white van pulled out of the parking lot and started down the road. 

“How was your day kid.” 

Peter didn’t respond, he was way too lost in thought about what had just happened. Scarlett’s father had seemed kind enough, he was all bright smiles and firm handshakes, but as soon as Peter laid eyes on him, his spider sense went crazy. It was as if Peter was about to be attacked by some dangerous criminal.

He was sure that Scarlett would notice him acting funny, she really seemed to have a knack for picking up on the tiniest of changes in someone's facial features. He looked over expecting to see intelligent eyes narrowed at him, accusatory, as if she had just caught him in a lie. 

Instead she looked as if she was masking her own panic. Her hands were shaking minutely, almost unnoticeable and she seemed very interested in her shoes and stared down at the ground. When her father moved to put his hand on her shoulder she flinched and tensed up.

Peter knew that feeling, he had done the same thing when he could feel a sharp prickling sensation telling him something was about to happen. After that paid close attention to the faces that she made and the things that she said. 

The rest of the conversation was uneventful and he had said goodbye then left, walking a little more quickly. Peter was startled out of his thoughts by fingers snapping under his nose. 

“Pete, you zoned out there.” Tony said, and Peter realized that he had.

The car had already pulled out of the parking lot and they were driving through the afternoon traffic to the compound. 

“What’s on your mind kid?”

“Nothing.” Peter said and shook his head. 

He didn’t want to drag Tony into his problems, especially if Peter didn’t know what they were. Tony turned his head towards Peter, glancing back at the road every once and awhile. 

“Come on kiddo, it might help if you tell me.”

Peter sighed then said. “There was a new girl at school, Scarlett. It was my job to show her around the building.” 

“That’s cool kid, I don’t really get what the problem is.” 

Peter shifted in his seat. “She acted weird, hardly talking and she looked scared all the time.”

“She was probably just shy, you get like that sometimes.” Tony reasoned.

Peter nodded along, but he didn’t feel very convinced, something was up and he knew it. Tony rolled down the windows letting the wind fly into the car and turned up the radio. 

Peter laughed while they both sang along as loud as they could until they were pulling into the compound parking lot. They got out and rode the elevator talking about some project that they were working on in the lab.

Peter had started living at the compound after he found out that Toomes knew his identity, meaning that May’s safety was at risk. She had tried to reason with him and say that she would be fine, but he wouldn’t listen. Eventually one night he panicked, packed a bag, and ran. May had called Tony in hysterics and begged him to get her nephew back. 

It had taken all the Avengers to scour the town looking for their teammate. Tony was the one who eventually found him. He had been flying around in the suit using FRIDAY to search for any sign of the kid and hoping he wasn’t hurt or kidnapped. He landed in a deserted alleyway between a tattoo parlor and a bar, both had old neon signs that blinked and cast bright colors onto the sidewalk.

Peter was curled up against a dumpster with his backpack looped protective to his chest. When he saw Tony he tried to run again. It took the Iron Man and War Machine suits to restrain him and then a sedative to get him back to the tower. 

Nobody knew what to do until Tony had suggested that he could take the boy in and May agreed. The forms were written and Peter was moved in that night. He talked to his aunt every evening and Tony invited her to the Friday dinners.

There was a ding of the elevator and as the doors slid open Peter felt all the tension in his body relaxed, he was home. The common floor of Avengers tower was always busy, whether it was the team scrambling around getting things ready for a mission, or the assassins of the tower engaged in a brutal water gun fight. 

This afternoon however seemed to be one of the more tranquil days. Steve and Bucky were sitting side by side in the middle of the couch, the former was reading a paperback book while the latter was captivated by a cartoon that played on the flat screen TV. 

Clint was on one of the ends snoring while he napped. The Barton kids were sprawled out across the carpet eyes glued to the screen in front of them with mouth slightly hanging open. 

They, along with Clint’s wife, had come to live at Avengers tower because Clint got so tired of having to leave them all the time to go on his missions. So he convinced them to leave the farm and come to the city to be with him. 

Turned out that Laura became a vital part of the teams lives, she was one of the best cooks besides Pepper, Wanda, and Bucky, she kept the place fairly organized, and she was like a mother to the younger members of the group. She was currently away on a business trip, and everyone promised her that she would be well missed. 

Rhodey was sitting in a reclining chair with a beer in his hand having a conversation with Sam who stood nearby. They were most likely talking about something military seeing as that was one of the biggest things that they had in common. 

Sam a while back had asked Rhodey to talk at one of his group sessions and the two bonded over their past experiences becoming good friends. The kitchen and dining room was openly connected to the living room and that was were the girls currently resided, cooking dinner.

They often did it together so they could talk and gossip, sometimes Peter would sit at the counter to do his homework instead of in the lab so he could listen to them talk and laugh.

“Why don’t you go talk to everyone then meet me later?” Tony asked as he shed his coat. 

Peter nodded and the two parted ways. He went around and said hi to everyone in the living room, starting up small talk about how their day went and what they thought about this or that.

When he got to the kitchen Pepper wrapped him up in a tight one-armed hug while her other hand was occupied answering company emails.

“Peter, try this and tell me what you think.” Wanda said.

She lifted a wooden spoon that had some red homemade sauce on it towards Peter’s face. He licked the end and hummed happily, Wanda’s food was always so good. When it was her turn to make dinner she usually prepared a meal that she would have in Sokovia as a child. 

She was all about comfort food and she always had some warm happy story about why she made it and what happened the last time she ate it. After giving a thumbs up for approval he moved over to Natasha who was talking to Pepper about some sort of silly story from the old days when she would partner up with Clint on missions. 

She paused just long enough to give Peter a kiss on the cheek and ruffle his hair while calling him some Russian nickname then resumed to the part where a drugged and delirious Clint tripped over his own bow.

“How was you day Peter?” Wanda asked, her head still turned towards the stove. 

“It was good, I was showing a new girl around today to I didn’t have any classes.” Peter said.

Wanda nodded happily “In that case, it’s your turn to set the table.” then turned around and dumped a tower of plates and cutlery into his arms. 

They sagged a little and he was dragged down until his super strength pushed past his surprise and he held them easily. 

“If it’s my turn, why did it matter if I had a good day or not?” He asked annoyed. 

Wanda went back to the food, but her voice was teasing. “Because you don’t whine about it as much when you’ve had a nice day.”

Peter rolled his eyes, but didn’t make too much of a fuss about it, he really didn’t mind. By the time he had finished the food was already being brought out to the table, so he hurried down to the lab to tell Tony that dinner was ready. When he got to the glass door the sound of ACDC could be heard blasting throughout the room and it only got louder when he entered the code to get inside and it slid open.

Only Peter, Tony, and Bruce were down here often, because they were just about the only ones who could navigate it. The place was was messier than usual, Tony must have had some kind of breakthrough. 

There were tools strewn about haphazardly and random screens thrown up sporting different weapon designs and new inventions. Cars in different stages of dissection, their parts littered on the ground around them. 

Tony was sitting on a stool in the middle of all the madness at his desk. An Iron Man suit was sprawled across it and he was currently gutting one of the hands, Peter guessed to remove the repulsor in the middle.

“Mr. Stark.” Peter called, waving his hands to get his attention. 

The man didn’t even notice. Peter tried again, louder and louder until finally he gave up. 

“FRIDAY, turn off the music.” Peter said to the ceiling.

Everything went abruptly quiet and Tony’s head shot up, there was grease smudging his face. 

“What’s up kid?” He asked wiping his hands on an already dirty rag. 

“It’s time for dinner.”

After hearing that Tony waved a hand and turned back down to his work. “I’ll go back up for the leftovers.” 

Peter rolled his eyes, he wasn’t surprised. Tony would often try to ditch meals so he can get a little more time to work.

“Do you really want to face Pepper though?”

Tony let out a long exasperated sigh then got up and trudged to the elevator. Peter laughed and hurried to catch up before the elevator closed. 

“Who’s cooking?” 

“Wanda”

Tony nodded and they were silent the rest of the way. When they got to the kitchen the mechanic made a bee-line for his chair beside Pepper and pressed a kiss to her head. 

The table was long to accommodate all of them and food covered almost the entire surface. Spaghetti and salad with rolls and salad, and steam rolling and curling over all of the hot stuff. Portions were distributed and the group started eating. 

Everyone laughed and talked and Peter looked around and smiled to himself. Tony and the Avengers had made him realize that even though life could suck and his especially did, the universe hadn’t forgotten about him. There were good things too, he just had to find them. 

“Wait, so Bucky, your saying that Steve used to be little?” Clint asked around a mouthful of food while he tried to wipe a sauce stain off Lila’s face. 

Natasha slapped him. “What did you think the serum was for куриные мозги?” 

Bucky laughed. “Yeah, Steve was really short, but trust me, he was just as stubborn.” 

Steve’s cheeks grew red and he smiles sheepishly down at his food.

Tony threw an arm around Peter and said, “Sounds like a certain spider-baby I know.”

Then it was Peter’s turn to imitate a tomato. “Mr. Stark.” he mumbled and everyone at the table laughed. Wanda smiled into her water glass.

After everyone had finished eating they all moved to the living room to watch a movie.

Bruce sat in a big arm chair with Natasha perched carefully on the armrest. Steve, Bucky and Sam took up one side of the couch, the last two fighting over a blanket. Clint sat on the floor, Cooper, Lila, and little Nate all managed to pile on his lap. Wanda sat beside him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. Rhodey sat beside Tony who had Peter clinging tightly to him already half asleep.

Pepper had gone off to a meeting and Thor was off world, so it wasn’t a true Avenger’s family movie night, but Peter still loved it. He couldn’t remember the name of the movie that was playing, but it was nice and he was sure that he had seen it before. 

Tony’s hand drifted to Peter’s curls and that was all it took for him to drift off. Right before he fell asleep he thought about Scarlett and really hoped that she was ok, he also wondered how he had started worrying so much about her when they had only met yesterday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the little change in Pov, I think I will do it more often. For those who are wondering Natasha was calling Clint a birdbrain in Russian
> 
> Also while I had absolutely no inspection on this work I started some other stuff, so some of that might make an appearance too. (Maybe some Stranger Things) ;) please leave a comment about what you thought, I would love some opinions!


	5. Well Crap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally decided to be productive and put out another chapter! The next one is almost ready as well so expect that soon. Hope you enjoy!

When Scarlett woke up the next morning, she felt like she was dying. Her arm was on fire. She pulled down the bandage, which was already soaked through with blood in some places, a little and almost threw up at the sight. The stitches were sloppy and uneven leaving small parts of the wound open. Those spaces obviously hadn’t been cleaned properly and were now turning a gross color and looked infected. 

Scarlett’s entire body felt weak and shaky as if a puff of wind could knock her down. She pulled up the bandage with a sort of grim determination. She wouldn’t last long with this wound, she needed to get proper medical attention. She was going to have to complete the mission today and get back to Russia before it was too late.

Scarlett carefully got dressed in the clothes that were laid out for her, a long sleeve dark red shirt and a black skirt with tights and matching flats. She did her hair in its usual style, which was much harder to do one handed and ate her oatmeal carefully so she wouldn’t get it on her nice outfit. 

When the man came for her she was ready, standing straight and looking ahead not making eye contact. He nodded his approval and pulled her through the door to where the white van sat. Her black backpack was already waiting for her inside and as the door slid shut with a loud crash Scarlett pulled the bag toward her and unzipped it.

She checked to make sure that the flash drive and circular device were inside before pushing them farther down so they were better hidden. She tried to feel happy, she really did. As soon as she got this mission done Scarlett would be able to go home, get proper medical treatment, and life would finally go back to normal. She could put the crazy New York and Midtown School of Science and Technology behind her. 

Those thoughts didn’t stop the pit in her stomach from growing as she got out of the van and walked into the building. Everything felt different without Peter, more chaotic and scary. Scarlett hunched her shoulders and tried to blend in and protect her injured arm at the same time. She got to her first class with mere seconds to spare and hurried to the back of the room where she would be less noticeable. 

It was a math class and the teacher droned on about things that Scarlett had no use for learning. She scribbled on a piece of paper to seem busy, but as soon as she could Scarlett was out the door and down the hall. The next two classes passed in a similar fashion and when it was finally time for lunch she hid the devices in a binder and tried to find the library.

She took a few wrong turns, but eventually she made it to the place where Peter had taken her the day before. It looked so warm and inviting that the thought of this being her last visit made her want to cry. Instead she pushed the lump in her throat away and opened the door. 

It was calm and quiet there, something Scarlett could appreciate. She scanned the room and saw Peter sitting at a table near the back hunched over what looked like a worksheet. When she sat down Peter looked up with a warm smile that dropped as soon as she took in her face. 

“you look pale, are you ok?” 

She nodded and gave her best smile trying for some sense of normalcy. If he suspected something was up then the whole mission could be for nothing. Failure was not an option. 

Peter leaned across the table and rested the back of his hand on her forehead and he frowned. 

“Scarlett, your burning up.”

she smacked his hand away from her head with her injured arm and he gently grabbed her wrist. A burning pain blossomed and she gasped tears springing in her eyes. Peter gently held her hand and worked the sleeve up past the elbow. He looked at her with a blank face, his expression that she couldn’t read.

Scarlett glared at him, daring him to peel back the bandage, to expose everything. He was either incredibly stupid or just didn’t care. As soon as he saw the gash Peter sighed and shook his head. “What happened?” He asked. Scarlett tugged her arm back and stood quickly fixing her gaze on the floor as tears ran down her face. 

Peter pulled her into a hug and she had to admit it was one of the best things she ever felt. It pained her to pull away, but he held her at arms length and examined her for other injuries. Scarlett could already tell it wouldn’t be good. She was too skinny and her arm was probably infected.

“I know people who can help you, I just have to call them.” 

Scarlett couldn’t let that happen, it was where she drew the line.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered and pressed her foot into his shin. 

Peter crumpled to one knee and Scarlett grabbed the two devices from their hiding place and ran. The hallways were like a maze, harder with all of the students that were crowding around. 

After a while of searching at least one of Scarlett’s problems seemed to be solved, there was some kind of commotion behind her and everyone cleared the way, all running to what she assumed was the main entrance. She found the computer room quickly without people in her way and attached the device to the nearest monitor and connected the flashdrive. 

The computer blinked on and a loading bar slowly filled. She watched the screen with bated breath ignoring the shouts and yells from outside. She was so close to success she could almost taste it, but as time went on things only got worse. She was sick, it wasn’t that hard to tell and as she watched her vision fade in and out Scarlett could only hope that she would be aware enough to finish the job. 

By the time the files were three fourths of the way finished a voice broke through her foggy brain.

“What do you think you’re doing in here?”

Scarlett turned around as fast as she could manage and froze. It was like looking in a mirror. The face was older, clearly an adult, but everything else was almost the same.The most obvious feature was the bright red hair she had, which matched Scarlett’s exactly. The woman wore a face as shocked as hers, but more so by her injuries. 

“Your hurt.”

It was straightforward, with an almost demanding edge. Scarlett turned her face to the floor and sniffled

“I deserved it.” She explained quietly. 

A look of recognition crossed over the woman and she straightend a little.

“Your from the Red Room, aren’t you?” 

Scarlett saw no reason to lie, she had done it so much already.

“I was too you know, my name is Natasha.” 

Scarlett watched Natasha slowly move across the room, closer and closer to her. Scarlett took a step back and the woman obliged.

“You know,” She said, casually as if the two were having a nice conversation, “I have a friend who could help you with that arm. I know a place for you to get food too.”

Scarlett gave her a suspicious look. How could she possibly get out? Natasha didn’t explain further, instead she put a hand to her ear and started talking to someone else.

“I have eyes on the target.” 

She spared another glance at Scarlett before giving a little smile. 

“But I see no need for backup.” 

She returned her attention to Scarlett who had started to sway in place. She waited patiently watching with a careful eye until Scarlett could no longer stand. 

As she fell to the floor the woman rushed forward and caught her. All Scarlett could do as she lay there was thinking about how much she screwed up. Everything was ruined and she was going to be in big trouble when her superiors found out.

A few minutes later a man entered the room. He was tall with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a very confused expression. 

“Perfect, Steve I need to stop this computer from transferring our files.” 

Steve nodded. “Great, what can I do to help?” 

Natasha crept closer and gave a sweet smile. “You can hold her.” 

She dumped Scarlett carefully into Steve’s arms and hurried to undo the damage. Scarlett could do nothing but blink blearly up at the man who was now watching her concerned and starting talking to someone else. 

“Bruce I need medical assistance over here now, no, it doesn’t look critical, but get here as soon as you can.” 

He shook his head.

“Nat, she looks just like you, how is that possible?”

“I don’t know, but I most certainly intend to find out. She told me she was from the Red Room though, sort of.”

Scarlett felt a small amount of satisfaction in seeing Steve pale a bit before he whisper yelled urgently 

“Sort of? What do you mean sort of?” 

Natasha shrugged. “She didn’t say anything, but she seemed to recognize the name. It’s not exactly easy to forget.”

They stopped talking and the sound of computer keys tapping filled the silence. A while later Scarlett picked up footsteps coming down the hallway. She tensed, but Steve tilted her so she could watch who was coming. There were only two people and that did nothing to soothe her.

One was a nice looking man who had a kind smile, but that didn’t distract her from the white medical coat and stethoscope that hung around his neck. The other guy had long dark hair and a metal arm that drew her attention. Steve walked closer and his voice sounded almost relieved.

“Thanks for coming so quickly Bruce. I don’t know exactly what’s wrong, but I think her arm is hurt.”

Bruce nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll take a look.” 

He gestured to a gurney that sat between the two of them. Steve leaned over to put Scarlett on the bed, but she grabbed onto his uniform with her good arm and refused to let go. She didn’t know who this man was, but he looked like a doctor so she had to stay as far away as possible. 

Her breathing grew more shallow and Steve watched her confused stopping in his tracks. Scarlett didn’t know how to explain the problem, and as time went on she only got more upset. Tears were streaming down her face and she choked on sobs. 

The man with the metal arm seemed to notice what was going on and stepped right in front of her, blocking the bed and Bruce from her line of sight. Then he moved forward slowly talking to her about anything that seemed to pop into his head. 

“Hey kid, my name’s Bucky. You know, you look a lot like my friend over here.” 

He pointed to Natasha who scoffed. “Friend?” 

He shot her a glare before turning his attention back to Scarlett. 

“She’s mean sometimes, but once you get to know her, well Natasha can be a softie.”

He followed Scarlett’s gaze to his metal limb and chuckled. 

“Like the arm? I hate the think honestly.” 

He gave it a critical look then said, “You know, if you come with us I know a guy who can teach you how it works.” 

He was right in front of Steve now looking down at her. She was in an extremely vulnerable position, but she didn’t really care.

“He has a ton of cool inventions to look at, what do you say?” 

The room went dead silent as he held out a metal palm to her. It was a question, an invitation. All Scarlett had to do was take it, so simple and easy she wondered if it was a trap, but she trusted these people and her own judgement so she took him up on the offer. 

He pulled her onto the bed and everything started happening at once. Someone pulled covers up to her chin and the click of metal rails sliding up on either side. Bruce picked up her injured arm and examined it. 

“Yikes, that is most definitely infected. I would be able to treat it better back at the compound. Helen will be there too so we will have better judgement.” 

The entire time Scarlett kept her eyes trained on Natasha who had returned a little while later and was watching her with a blank face. If she was from the Red Room then Scarlett should have guessed that she would be hard to read. As they started moving Scarlett felt her eyes droop, the exhaustion of it all starting to catch up with her, but she forced them open, not yet trusting this new group. 

Bruce looked over and smiled at her foolish attempt to stay awake. 

“Go ahead to sleep, we’ll all be right here.”

Those words shouldn’t have comforted her, they were the enemy, her mission, but she was too tired to care. Scarlett’s eyes fluttered closed and she was out like a light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot is moving. . . I hope you liked it and please leave a comment to let me know what you think and what suggestion you have. See ya :)


	6. The Impossible is Possible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter switches POV again, yay. You finally get the big reveal, although it’s rather anticlimactic, but I added fluff so it’s all good ;) Hope you like the new chapter, please please please comment what you think, I would love some feedback. Also I might take a few suggestions so long as they work with the plot.

Natasha sat in a small plastic chair in Medbay and stared at the small figure lying in the bed. Even when she slept the two looked so alike that anyone would do a double take. The girl’s hair was the same shade as Natasha’s, although it looked like it hadn’t been washed in days and was much longer. Her eyes were the same color, but they always looked hungry and scared, and now closed. 

Natasha wanted to know how something like that could be possible, how a girl who looked like here showing up with near the same experiences. When Bruce walked through the door she pounced, jumping out of her chair and walking to him with the face that she used for interrogations, but he wasn’t fooled by her intimidation and just started to work, talking while he did. 

“The quinjet wasn’t really prepared for her injuries, so we couldn't do much until we brought her here.” 

He rubbed an alcohol wipe on the inside of her elbow and set an IV there. The girl whimpered a little when it broke the skin and Bruce rubbed a thumb over her hand and whispered an apology.

“I’ll give her a sedative to keep her calm while I restitch the wound. It might help if I knew what caused something like this.” 

He gave Natasha a hopeful look and she knew exactly what he was asking for. 

“Alright, I’ll do it.” She said and carefully peeled back the gauze and bandages.

She was used to seeing all kinds of different injuries in the Red Room and she could recognize what might have caused it or if there was some kind of accident. Natasha scanned her eyes up and down the gash for a while and let it rest back on the bed 

“Definitely happened on purpose, must have been a punishment for something. They wouldn’t have done a good job of fixing it until she finished the mission. That’s why it got infected, she took too long.” 

Bruce nodded and hurried off for the suture kit. Natasha sat back down and looked at the cut in disgust. The idea that someone would do that to a child seemed terrible to her now, although when she was the girls age the idea hadn’t been so outlandish. 

Bruce returned with the kit and carefully took out the stitches that had already been done. Then he carefully put in new ones making sure that they were straight and properly spaced. When he was about halfway done Tony walked in with Peter hot on his tail. The way the teenager looked at Scarlett, a mix of worry and protectiveness that Natasha had only really seen on Cooper when Lila scraped her knee.

“Peter, have you seen this girl before?” 

Natasha saw no reason to beat around the bush, so she didn’t. He glanced at the kid, then Tony before he said, “Her name is Scarlett she was a new freshman about a day ago and I helped show her around. She looks so familiar and now I remember why, she looks just like you.” 

Scarlett seemed like a pretty fitting name, if her hair was any indication.

“Was her arm hurt when you met her?” 

Peter shrugged, “Not that I could tell, but she was always that skinny and she looked terrified all the time.” 

Natasha nodded satisfied with his answer then turned to Bruce who had just finished and was reaching over to a counter that had fresh gauze and bandages.

“She has to be related to me somehow, right?”

He nodded and looked at Scarlett thoughtfully before saying. “Yes, that would explain the resemblance. Nat, did your parents have any other kids?” 

Natasha didn’t know anything about her parents, besides the fact that they were dead. 

“It’s worth checking out.” 

“All we need is a blood test to find out and Helen can analyze the results. We can do it right now if you want.”

He left it open, plenty of room for her to make a decision, Bruce was always like that and Natasha appreciated it. 

“The sooner the better.” She said, already rolling up her sleeve. 

Natasha didn’t feel nervous about the prospect of having a new family member because that wasn’t her. She dove head first into situations and dealt with her emotions later. Put them in a box to unpack when it was most convenient. 

“Well, that’s my cue to leave.” Peter said, chuckling nervously and backing out of the room.

Natasha rolled her eyes, unable to contain her smile. The spider-kid’s fear of needles was cute and something that Same endlessly teased him about. 

“I guess she’s staying then. I should probably get a room set up. I’m guessing on your floor?”

“Stark, you know me so well.” She said sarcastically while Bruce tightened a rubber band around her bicep. 

She would want the girl close to her for observational purposes more than anything else. Tony left as Bruce slowly lowered the needle to the inside of Natasha’s arm. 

A few minutes and a sample from Scarlett later Natasha was back in the chair, this time beside Bucky. He had his hair pulled back like he often did on a lazy day and they sat together in a comfortable silence.

“So, when are you going to find out?” he asked.

“I don’t know, just when I do.” Natasha snapped. 

He turned toward her and smiled. 

“Is the great Natasha Romanoff nervous?” He asked, feigning surprise.

“No, I’m not nervous.”

“Yeah right, I think your allowed to be. It seems like the time.”

They were quiet for a while longer before he spoke again.

“You don’t have to be emotionless all the time you know.”

“Well what if I want to be. Certainly makes things easier.”

Bucky chuckled darkly.

“Yeah, it sure does.”

He wished her luck and left, she was all alone with only an unconscious little girl and the beeping of a vitals monitor for company until Clint dropped by.

“Hey Tasha, is she staying here?”

Nat rolled her eyes at the nickname only the archer was allowed to use, then nodded. 

“Looks like it, event if we aren’t related, we can’t just have a trained assassin roaming the streets of New York.”

“Sweet, the kids will be excited to have a new friend to play with.” 

Natasha raised an eyebrow. 

“You did hear the part where I mentioned a highly trained assassin right?” 

Clint gave her an odd look. 

“You do realize they live in a building full of them right?”

She laughed, he was right of course. She may have been the slightest bit nervous, but Clint always managed to make her feel better.

“They’re getting her room set up now you know” he said coming closer until he stood right behind her.

“Of course they are, I assume Tony will have the latest technology installed.”

Cling shrugged. 

“You know how he is. When Steve and Bucky first moved into their rooms they about had heart attacks trying to figure out how everything worked.”

Then he gave her a worried glance.

“Do you wanna come up and see it?”

Natasha smiled at the offer, but shook her head. 

“I think I’ll at least stay until Bruce comes back with the results, I’ll try to make it to dinner though.”

Clint seemed satisfied with the answer and turned to walk away. Natasha didn’t want to be by herself again, left alone with her thoughts that seemed determined to consume her. She held out a hand. 

“You can still stay, if you want to,” 

He turned and gave a big smile.

“I would love to. Goodness it’s so boring up there and nobody’s fun to talk to.”

So that’s exactly what they did, they talked. About anything really and although they both knew that they were doing it, they tried to pretend that their eyes didn’t stray to the little girl lying on the bed every few minutes.

When Bruce returned, all the nerves that had drained out of Natasha for a while came rushing back as she stood to meet him. Clint took Natasha’s hand to calm her, it worked a little.

“Well?” She asked expectantly and Bruce straightened his glasses. 

“She is definitely your sister.” He said. 

Natasha nodded and glanced back at Scarlett. She really didn’t know what to say and honestly she didn’t think she could speak if she wanted to. She had gone so long thinking all her family were dead and that she was alone. It was such a relief to know that wasn’t true. 

“We’ll keep her on the sedatives tonight to help her sleep and tomorrow you can talk to her, but she will have to stay here for a little while to let her arm heal.” 

“Thanks Bruce.” Clint said for her since she was too busy watching Scarlett. 

“Tasha, does that mean you’re coming to dinner?”

She gave him an exasperated slap. 

“Of course I am you goof. I don’t want to live down here.”

“Then let’s go or you’ll miss it and Cooper and Lila will have an absolute fit.” 

He stopped and shuddered.

“I am not willing to go through that again, not after the last time.”

Natasha laughed and walked out of the room leaving Clint to hurry after her. That night Natasha spent time with her teammates and friends. 

She started to feel better that night and as she was going to bed she stopped by the new room and looked inside. It was nice and still clearly unfinished, but she hoped Scarlett would like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their sisters!!!!! I hope that it was a little bit of a surprise. I came up with this entire story just because I heard the name Scarlett and liked it. Please comment thoughts, might take ideas if they fit the plot, I’ll let you know. Thanks!


	7. A Whole New World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back at it, yay! I don’t have a whole lot to say about this chapter, just that there is a whole ton of fluff and geeky stuff. I really hope that you guys like it. Please comment what you think, that stuff really encourages me to keep at it. Enjoy:)

Scarlett woke up slowly, her different senses gradually coming back. She could hear voices, but they sounded warped and off. She tried to open her eyes, but they felt heavier than stone. Alarm bells went off in her head as Scarlett realized just how helpless she was.

There was no way for her to defend herself and it made her start to panic. Even though her limbs felt like they were made of jelly Scarlett started to wriggle around in an attempt to get moving. She needed to be safe, protected. She heard beeping and loud voices around her. They sounded upset, but she couldn’t tell what they were saying and she didn’t really care. 

Hands pinned her wrists. Everything was hazy and all she wanted was another one of Peter hugs. Finally after a few minutes of struggling she heard one sound ring out above the others. 

“Scarlett, you ok. Calm down.”

She knew who that was. He had given her a tour of his school and checked out a book for her. She focused on those memories, some of the best that she’d ever had. Scarlett let them ground her and before long everything cleared.

A group of people were standing around her bed, all of them watching her with a worried expression. She recognized Bucky whose was keeping her arms pinned to the bed and Steve who had her legs. 

Natasha was on the other side with her face blank, chewing on her lip. She also noticed Peter at the foot of the bed hands gripping the edge looking both nervous and angry at the same time. The doctor Bruce walked over looking calm and collected as he scanned the damage.

“You knocked the IV out, and a few of the wires for the heart monitor, but we can fix that.” 

He gave her a smile and although she wanted to, Scarlett just wasn’t able to return it.

“Are you in any pain?” 

She wanted to say that yes, her arm was aching and her head hurt, but it would do her no good. There was no point in voicing out something that would go ignored instead of just toughing it out like she always did. He didn’t seem to believe her when she shook her head though. 

“Are you sure? We have something we can give you to make it better.” 

Scarlett decided that she might as well humor him so she nodded along. 

“I thought so, I’ll be right back with a new IV kit and some of the drugs.” 

It only took him a few minutes to get everything back in working order. Then he came back into Scarlett’s line of sight and said, “That should work in a few minutes.”

Scarlett was too busy admiring the softness of her covers to answer. Natasha stepped forward and sat on the end of the bed. 

“We’ve got a lot of talking to do. Where do you want to start?”

Scarlett remained silent and Natasha nodded. 

“Fair enough. I don’t know how aware you were when we first met, but my name is Natasha and I guess we’re sisters.” 

Scarlett could almost laugh, this woman didn’t seem to be one to tip-toe around the problem. She dove right in, definitely a trait from the Red Room.

“You’ll be staying here for the time being. We’ve already got a room for you set up. It’s on my floor and close by if you need anything.”

Scarlett tried hard to keep her face straight and not let any emotion show, but it was hard to keep so much curiosity and skepticism in. Natasha noticed, but didn’t comment. Her new sister nodded and stood up, “I have some things I need to take care of, so I’m going to leave. Bruce and Dr. Helen Cho will be watching you, alright?” 

Scarlett didn’t reply, but nobody was expecting her to. Natasha turned to the others in the room who were busy acting like they hadn’t been listening to the whole conversation.

“Be careful around her, she needs rest and probably some time to think.”

She walked out of the room without looking back, and everyone dispersed to do their own thing. Scarlett was terrified to see everyone leave her alone in a hospital looking place. They could do anything to her and she was helpless to stop it. Peter stood in the doorway looking conflicted, then turned around and grinned as he walked toward her bed.

“It sounds to me like you’ve been by yourself for a while now, I think I’ll hang out with you for a little bit.” 

His face brightened. “I have something that I think you’ll like. Just give me one second to go get it.” 

Peter rushed out of the room, Scarlett could hear his footsteps going down the hall. Suddenly her company was the beep of a monitoring and the sharp smell that only steril hospital environments seem to have. Scarlett felt trapped, he wasn’t coming back and these people where obviously connected to the Red Room in some way. This was all a test and she would be punished for her disloyalty. Everything seemed to clear away as Scarlett spiralled in her panic. 

“Hey, are you ok? Because you look like you’re about to hurl.”

Peter stood in the doorway with plastic cases tucked in his arms. He watched her a little confused until realization dawned on his face and he smacked his forehead with a free hand.

“Of course! I’m an idiot. You don’t like it here do you?” 

She shook her head, but it wouldn’t really matter. He couldn’t change the situation anymore than she could, but he put the cases on the bed anyway and walked over to a cabinet that was tucked against one wall.

“You know I hate the Medbay too. That’s where you are.” 

He explained and opened the little door pulling out a spray bottle. He pulled the trigger a few times and soon the room smelled flowery and not at all cold and clinical. The change made the room seem more cozy and soft somehow and Scarlett rolled out her shoulders with a grateful smile. 

“Yeah, lavender always makes me feel less on edge. Hey, I got what I wanted to show you.” 

He picked up one of the cases and held it out for her to see. The front was glossy with the word Star Wars across the top. There were different people underneath with laser swords.

“I really like these movies and I thought I would show them to you.” 

“Movie?” She asked. Her voice was soft and was almost a whisper.

“You don’t know what a movie is?” Peter asked surprised. 

Scarlett felt her face heat up as a blush spread across her cheeks. 

“Hey, it’s alright. A movie is like a moving picture, but the people talk and do cool things. I think you’ll like it.”

He opened the case and pulled out a thin circular disk that seemed to gleam in the artificial light. Peter put it in a little box beneath a ridiculously large T.V. that hung on the wall in front of them. Then he dimmed the lights and walked back over to the bed. He pushed her over a little and lay down beside her grabbing a remote and pressing a button.

As soon as the movie started, Scarlett’s eyes were glued to the screen, she loved it so much that she didn’t notice when Natasha walked back into the room leaning against the doorframe and watching the two with a smile on her face. They only noticed when she coughed, Peter paughed the movie and looked up.

“What are you two watching?” 

“Starwars.” Peter said swinging the remote out of Scarlett’s reach as she tried to press play.

Natasha made a face. “Don’t get her started on those too. I can’t have another geeky kid around the tower.” 

“Come on Nat, you’ve gotta admit that they’re at least a little good.” 

“I wouldn’t know Pete, never actually seen them before.” 

Peter jumped up and startled Scarlett so much she tipped back in the bed, but he was too busy being shocked to notice.

“Natasha Romanoff! How can you say they’re bad movies if you’ve never seen them? How have you never seen them?”

Natasha shrugged. “I’ve been busy, guess I never got around to it.”

Peter sat back down and grabbed the remote, he pointed to a spot on Scarlett’s other side. 

“Well we’ll start over then. Come on, you have to.” 

Natasha shook her head, but lay down anyway. Peter rewound the movie and they started watching again. Scarlett didn’t mind because everything had happened so fast the first time that she hadn’t been able to keep up, but now she could really process everything. It was nice and Scarlett felt herself getting tired. She rested her eyes and tilted her head back on the pillow. Before she knew it, Scarlett fell asleep. 

She woke up a little while later to one of the men that she’d met brushing her hair back from her head. 

“Hey, my name’s Clint. I’m a friend of your sister. Want something to eat?” 

He had a tray in his hand that had a bowl of some liquid that definitely wasn’t oatmeal. 

“This is chicken soup.” He explained.

“It was one of the first things Natasha had when we got her.”

He helped Scarlett sit up and then eat a spoonful. She really liked soup. It was much warmer than anything she had ever eaten and it tasted better too. Once she had completely drained the bowl he set it on the side table and sat at the end of her bed. 

“Your doing a lot better already, Bruce will look you over tomorrow, but you might be able to get out of here tomorrow. Of course your arm will still need time to heal, but I think it could do that in the comfort of your own room.”

He was probably expecting her to make a bigger fuss about that statement, but she was too busy looking at the bandage that went from wrist to just below her elbow. She had forgotten all about it, something that never happened to her previous injuries.

“Yeah, those drugs work pretty good. Especially when your not used to them.”

He leaned back a little. 

“I would expect you to be a little more loopy, but you’ve been trained to keep a clear head, that and you never talk so I guess it was kind of to be expected.”

She didn’t understand how he knew so much about her. She hadn’t said a word to him and he seemed to just pick up on everything that she was thinking.

“I rescued your sister.” He said bluntly.

“I had just started out as an agent a while ago and I’d really started climbing through the ranks fast, this was a mission that only I could really do.” 

He was leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees and his head turned to the ground. Scarlett guessed he was back in that time, reliving everything.

“They didn’t give me a ton of information, there was a dangerous assassin roaming around, I had to take care of her, enough said.” 

He drew in a breath.

“When I got there we fought for a while. I banged her head against the edge of a concrete building. She got a pretty nasty concussion and was all wobbly and disoriented. I could finish the job easily, but when I pulled back my arrow for the shot, I got a good look at her.”

He looked up at Scarlett and even though his eyes looked a little sad, he was smiling. 

“She was a lot like you. Just skin and bones with wide scared eyes. I stood there for a long time, if she was in any condition to get away she could have easy.” 

Scarlett found herself fully invested in her sisters past. It just seemed so much like her own and she would take any information about her that she could get. 

“I decided to not listen to director Fury’s orders and brought her back with me for medical treatment, he was definitely not happy and screamed at me for hours, but watching Natasha learn about all the great things in life and go around with wide eyes looking like a kid in a candy store.”

Clint chuckled a little. “That was something I would never want to change.”

“Barton, are you giving her my life story?” The lady herself walked in looking at the both of them with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you kidding? I don’t have the time of day.” 

“Well then I’m kicking you out. Me, Peter, and Scarlett are going to watch more movies. You not invited.” 

“I would be really hurt, but I’m not a nerd.” Clint deadpanned.

He was already halfway out the door.

“By the way kid. I’m going to be on the same floor as you new room. So are my kids, and Steve and Bucky.” He said. Then disappeared. 

“Him too?” She asked hopefully.

“You heard the man. Now come on we need to learn more about these Jedi’s.” 

After another few hours of movie watching Scarlett fell asleep between Natasha and Peter again. Right before she drifted off she realized that this might not be as bad as she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked that. I personally love Clint and Natasha friendship and think that it is one of the purest things in this world, but hey, that’s just me. Also the bond between Peter and Natasha just makes want to explode. Let me know what you think about those two relationships in the comments and just what you thought of the chapter in general. Also if you have questions about the stuff that has happened so far. Hope you like it and I’ll see y’all next time!


	8. Another Moving Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry that this took forever to get out! This was a chapter that I felt needed to happen, but just couldn’t figure out how to write it. I still don’t really know how I feel about it, but I think that this is as good as it’s going to get. Don’t worry though, I intend to never go this long without updating again. I hope you like this and leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Peter bounded down the hall to the Medbay, hardly able to contain his excitement. Helen and Bruce had officially deemed Scarlett healthy enough to move into the tower. The past few days had been spent keeping her occupied with StarWars movies and introducing her to new foods, most of which had been cooked by Wanda and Bucky. They learned that she enjoyed all of StarWars, loved french toast, pizza, chicken noodle soup, card games, and surprisingly, action movies. Scarlett didn’t like spinach, mushrooms, anything she deemed too scary on the T.V. and eggs. 

Now she would be able to see her new room, one that they had secretly been decorating since the decision had been made for her to stay. Pepper had ordered all of the furniture online, Steve and Bucky had carried the boxes up and Peter helped Tony and Rhodey put everything together. Natasha and Wanda had picked out a good color and painted the walls. They had decided to keep things simple so she wouldn’t feel overwhelmed, Natasha had planned out most of it because of the shared past experiences.

Scarlett was still asleep when Peter took a seat in the chair beside the bed. She somehow managed to look on edge even while resting, her hands were folded carefully on her stomach and her red hair was fanned out neatly over the pillow. Tony had always teased Peter for tossing and turning while he slept, but Scarlett was so still that if it weren’t for her chest rising and falling gently in near silent breaths, Peter might worry that she was dead. He reached out carefully and touched her shoulder. As soon as his fingers brushed her, Scarlett’s eyes flew open and she tensed as if trying her best not to shy away from his hand. Peter cringed, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Did you sleep well? Bruce and Helen, they’re the doctors who are treating you, they said that you can leave the Medbay now and join the rest of us up in the tower, isn’t that great?”

He was rambling a little, but everytime he talked to her the conversation was mostly one sided so he didn’t think that Scarlett would mind too much. She stared at him for a moment, probably to process the words before her eyes widened and the corners of her mouth rose into a small smile. “I knew you would be happy about it.” Peter said cheerfully before looking around the room and wrinkling his nose. “I can never stand staying here long.” He suddenly remembered the little bundle in his lap. “I brought you some clothes too. I figured you would probably want to change as soon as possible.”

He passed the neatly folded outfit over and it landed in her lap. Peter helped Scarlett up from her bed, all of the wires and tubes had been removed earlier that morning, and watched her hug the clothes close to her chest. “Go ahead and get changed, I’ll be waiting right outside in the hall.” Peter said, and then as an afterthought. “You can go ahead and take a shower in there too if you want. Shampoo, conditioner, and bodywash should be under the sink.” Scarlett gave a sharp nod to show she understood then turned on her heel and hurried to the bathroom shutting the door silently behind her. Peter moved to stand right where he said he would and leaned back against the wall letting out a little sigh. 

He had realized that it was Saturday, he had met Scarlett almost a week ago, but it felt so much longer to him. Peter had always been an only child and there had never been anyone in his life that he had felt protective over. Ned was like a brother, but he had always protected Peter, acting more like the older sibling. Michelle was his friend too, but he was really hoping that they could be more than that sometime. Peter could feel himself blush a little just thinking about it. In any case, when he had been told to show Scarlett around the school, he really didn’t think that much of it. After just that day though, worrying if she was ok, seeing how timid and nervous she was, Peter could imagine what being an older sibling felt like. A tug on his shirt made him jump in surprise. 

Scarlett was standing there dressed with her hair wet and tangled around her shoulders. She blinked up at him using her fingers to gently comb through her hair as best she could. “Hey Scarlett, I didn’t hear you come in.” Peter said looking back at the opened bathroom doorway. Natasha did that sometimes. She could move so quietly no one would know she had walked into a room until she was already comfortable on the couch and had stolen the remote. “Well since you're done I guess I should show you your surprise.” Peter didn’t bother trying to hide his excitement. He hoped that maybe some of his enthusiasm would bleed into Scarlett’s mood.

Instead she tugged his shirt again, tilting her head and letting her eyebrows furrow, Peter picked up on the silent question she was asking right away. “No silly, I’m not going to tell you what the surprise is yet. You’re just going to have to come with me.” She threw a glare so sharp that if looks could kill Peter was sure that he would be dead. He chuckled to himself, apparently she wasn’t a fan of surprises. Peter walked down the long hallway towards the elevator with Scarlett following silently behind. He found himself glancing behind his shoulder to make sure that she hadn’t wandered off somewhere, but she was always just a few steps behind looking around with wide eyes even though they were in a plain hallway.

She spent the entire elevator ride staring at Peter as if she could draw the secret out of him with just her eyes. “This is one of the floors where the rest of the team sleeps. Steve, Bucky, Clint with his family, and Natasha stay here. My room is up by Mr. Starks, but I’ll show you where that is later if you need me for something.” Peter led Scarlett down to the door at the very end of the hall. “This right here is your room.” Leading the way Peter glanced back to see Scarlett’s reaction. It was obviously subdued, but he could see the surprise and excitement swimming in her eyes. Natasha had been very careful when planning things out so they wouldn’t overwhelm her.

“Remember, she’s never had a room before. If things are the same as they were when I left she probably slept in a concrete room with artificial light and about twenty other girls spread out on thin, uncomfortable cots. Just about anything you put in here is going to be new.” They had made sure to follow her advice carefully. 

The walls were painted a soft off white color that wouldn’t look too harsh with the lights on and there weren’t any pictures hung up, they decided they would let her pick things out when she was ready to go shopping. The bed was pushed back with the headboard resting against the wall and it was facing the door so Scarlett would be able to see anyone coming in. A super soft comforter was resting on top and it was piled high with fluffy pillows. There was a nightstand next to it with a lamp and near that was a small bookshelf that was filled with books that Peter guessed she would like, but Scarlett wasn’t looking at any of it. She didn’t even seem interested in the closet that was filled with soft clothes all in dark colors that she was used to wearing. Instead she was drawn like a magnet to the window. 

It was huge making up an entire wall and looked out over the grassy front lawn of the compound. It was a nice day out, the sun was shining down with only a couple clouds floating lazily in the sky. Scarlett stood so close to the window that her nose was almost touching it. Her hands were clenched together tight behind her back as if she was dying to press her hands to the glass, but was trying to keep herself in check, she was absolutely mesmerized by the view. Peter walked over to stand beside her smiling down at her. 

“So, what do you think? I’m pretty sure the girls are planning to take you shopping sometime so you can always pick out more things to decorate and Nat wanted me to tell you that if you want to move any furniture you can, but you should probably ask Steve and Bucky first seeing as they’re the ones with the super strength.” Scarlett glanced up at him and Peter noticed a small grin had spread across her face.

“Thank you.” She whispered before turning back to watch a little squirrel scamper up a tree nearby. Peter’s eyes widened in surprise. Scarlett had barely spoken a word since he met her. They had all come to learn that she would only talk when it was deemed the only option. Although she only said two words this felt so much bigger and Peter could feel all of the emotion behind them. She could see the work that they had put into this, even though to most people it didn’t look like a lot, she really appreciated the thought behind it. Peter also knew that she could see the hidden meaning behind this gift.

A room, and a decorated one at that, meant she was sticking around. It wouldn’t make sense to give her all this if the situation was a temporary thing. Peter dropped a hand on her shoulder and even though she flinched, which was probably a conditioned response at this point, she didn’t try to move away.

“No problem Scarlett, I’m really glad that you like it.” Peter wasn’t sure how much longer they stood like that, but after a few more minutes he felt a weight resting against his side. Looking down he saw her leaning against him and he was glad that he asked everybody to stay upstairs while he introduced her to the room. Something told him that she wouldn’t feel as comfortable showing this much emotion around the others. A hand brushing softly against his shoulder made him jump and startled Scarlett who jumped away from Peter like a spooked cat. Natasha stood there with her arms crossed and a smug smile spread over her face. “Mr. Stark was right, we need to get you a bell.” Peter grumbled, annoyed that he had been snuck up on for the second time that day.

“Or you just need to be more aware of your surroundings, spider baby.” Natasha teased ruffling up his hair before facing Scarlett and her angry glare. “Why are you so mad? You knew I was there the entire time.” Nat wrapped her arms around the two pulling them close. “I see you two are having a good time.” Scarlett nodded, all previous frustration forgotten, and gestured out to the window as if it were the most amazing thing in the world. “I know right, everything is so much brighter out there.” Natasha said seriously.

Peter could tell that they were having a moment, something only the two sisters shared, something he would probably never be able to understand the significance of. “And hey, if you think it looks good now just wait until the sun starts to set.” Nat said with a wink. Peter watched Scarlett and noticed the content look on her face. 

She was in her new room with her older sister and new friend looking out at the grass and trees not having to worry about missions or following orders or just staying out of harm's way. Peter hoped that while staying here he would be able to give her something she probably never had, a childhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to post, although I don’t really have an update schedule I can promise that I won’t take this long again. Now that this chapter was out of the way I think things will flow a little better. Also, over the past few months I’ve really gotten into Supernatural and Criminal Minds, I have ideas for both and one already has a little bit written down. I wouldn’t post anything for a while because I want to focus on this story right now, but let me know if you think that’s something I should start working on. Hope you like the story so far :)


End file.
